Day: September 10, 2021

Gun Law
Stephen Gutowski

Newsletter: Biden Drops ATF Nominee in Wake of The Reload’s Reporting

This week showed what kind of real-world impact The Reload‘s reporting can have. After a series of exclusive reports detailing accusations of racism levied against the nominee to head the ATF, President Biden pulled him from consideration on Thursday. The Reload has been in operation for just over four months. It is an entirely reader-funded publication with just three people making it work. Yet we were able to break several stories on one of the President’s biggest nominees and they resulted in just the second time he has had to drop a nominee. Other outlets were either unable or unwilling to provide the level of journalistic scrutiny of the President’s nominee that The Reload produced. I am proud of the work we did on this story. And it literally could not have happened without the support of our members. We will use that continued support to bring more sober, serious firearms reporting that has a demonstrable impact on the world around you day after day. White House Pulls ATF Nominee After Exclusive Reporting From The Reload Raises Character Questions By Stephen Gutowski David Chipman will not be the director of the ATF. Multiple sources have told Politico, The Washington Post, and CNN the White House plans to withdraw his nomination after failing to garner 50 votes in the Senate. Chipman was unable to secure support from even the Democratic caucus after a contentious confirmation hearing and a series of Reload stories on allegations of racism on his part coming from former ATF agents. The Reload stories led to calls from Republicans for new hearings and a whistleblower report being filed with the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. A black former ATF agent told The Reload in August that Chipman had falsely accused him of cheating on a promotion assessment because he believed the agent had done too well on a section of the examination. “I couldn’t believe it when it happened,” the agent said. “But when I read about his other comments, in my mind, I was like ‘that motherf*****.’ That’s what happened. He said, ‘Hey, a lot of African Americans qualified to be promoted on this certification list; they must have been cheating.’ And then he had to go and find one. I happened to be that one.” The agent said Chipman’s complaint against him initiated a years-long inspector general investigation against him in 2007 that sidetracked his career before exonerating him. The Department of Justice confirmed Chipman had initiated an investigation against an agent over accusations of cheating in 2007. However, they would not release the report or confirm any further details about it. Click here to read the full story. Analysis: What Will Biden Do With the ATF Director Position Now? [Member Exclusive] President Joe Biden was dealt a serious political setback on Thursday when he withdrew his pick to head the ATF. That leaves the administration’s executive branch gun-control push without its planned shepherd. And it leaves the gun-control groups that have staunchly backed Biden without one of their own in a key administrative

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